Footballer Lorenzo Pellacani, brother of Italian diving champion Chiara: "I left the training camp to see her competing: what a thrill"

Lorenzo Pellacani, 22, is the older brother of Chiara, the diving queen of Europe. The Roman champion won five medals in this edition of the European Championships: two golds, two bronze and one silver. For the last competition, the women's 3m springboard, the one she cared most about, she had a special fan in the stands: her brother.

Lorenzo is a footballer: as of this season he plays in LegaPro - Italy's third league - for Triestina, a team with noble origins and an ambitious project. He is a midfielder and these days he is not in Trieste, but he is with his team in a training camp in Rome. So, on Friday, he asked for permission to go to the Foro Italico to see his sister competing: "I thank my club for giving me this opportunity," he said, "because one thing is to see a competition live, another one is to watch it on TV. It was great to see her win, also because she needed to perform the perfect dives and she did. Even if she was one of the favourites, but if you get one detail wrong, things can go wrong."

Lorenzo, among other things, says that their relationship is very close despite the fact that from this year on they will live apart: Chiara in the United States, as she studies psychology and trains in Louisiana, Lorenzo in Trieste. "Our older sister will stay with mum (teacher) and dad (sports journalist). But we always keep in touch, the distance does not separate us," he says.